Over the last few years I’ve had the privilege of meeting so many amazing authors, many of whom I’ve also become great friends with. Recently, I’ve been thinking about being a better promotional friend to those published (traditional or indie) author friends because they deserve it, because I want to help them and because we […]

Oh, you silly, naive little thing. You want to be a writer. Didn’t you get the memo? The pay is lousy. If you’re with the Big Six-Now-Five, your publisher will barely promote your stuff (and you’ll never earn out your advance). If you self-publish, your wordbaby will be lost in a sea of other self-pubbed […]

Today’s guest post comes from Colleen Anderson. Colleen freelances in copyediting and writing and also edits poetry for Chizine and does slush manuscript editing for ChiZine Publications. She’s a past editor for Aberrant Dreams, has edited for many first-time novels for individuals and has worked with publishers and magazines. Her poem “Of the Corn: Kore’s […]

For my post today I just wanted to share an odd assortment of stuff that inspired me, motivated me, made an impact in some way, and was usually stumbled upon at just the right moment. It’s an eclectic assortment, little bit of this, little bit of that, just a chance to indulge in some very […]

When I’m up to my elbows in an illustration and my music library is feeling overplayed, I often turn to podcasts for some background stimulus while I work. A random sampling from the past month: I’ve been fascinated by the princess who thought she swallowed a glass piano, by sensory deprivation chambers, by Greg Rucka […]

Several of the Inkpunks recently returned from the amazing Rainforest Writers Village Retreat. This was my third year attending and I cannot say enough good things about it. It takes place at the The Rain Forest Resort Village, situated on Lake Quinault in the Pacific Northwest Pennisula. It’s not only a gorgeous setting which inspires […]

I’ve had this conversation several times lately: Friend: “Hey, what cons are you going to this year? Will you be at [ComicCon? Rainforest? IMC? Norwescon? WHC? IlluxCon? WFC?… etc]” Me: “No, i’m not going to that one either…” It usually feels a bit like this: Let’s face it. Conventions and workshops are great for networking […]

So for the last couple of years, I’ve been putting my amateur mixology skills to use for the good of the Inkpunks. For their birthdays, each Inkpunk got a custom-crafted cocktail from me, along with a card and a recipe. It was a way for me to practice my skills, of course, but more than […]

Almost two years ago John Remy wrote this post about community building and twitter. It’s one of those “where it all started” posts, nostalgic and wonderful to read. Small connections becoming powerful friendships, twitter jokes becoming full blown book projects. Creative lives intersecting and growing. My own relationship with twitter has been a shifting, morphing […]

What I remember about September 11, 2001: It was the day I had planned to move into a new painting studio. We were newlyweds living in a cramped 1 bedroom apartment, a corner of which I was using to make all manner of messes. I had finally made arrangements to rent a spot in a […]